How to connect to .Net Application?

[mzeeshanarshad]

Hi,

We are interested in developing a product based on high speed data acquisition, processing and filtering (to be done on RedPitaya).

The acquisition control and processing information will be communicated by the user through a .Net application.

I have the following questions in this regards:

1. Can I develop some filtering and data processing algorithms in the c code in the redpitaya? Is it fast enough because I intend to continuously process data during high speed acquisition.

2. Is it also possible to change the FPGA code fully using XIlinx?

3. How do I communicate with RedPitaya using >net application? Can I communicate the control signals and results through the c program in the redpitaya and my .Net application? Could you please point the correct way?

Thanks.

Regards,

Shan

[Nils Roos]

Hi Shan,

1. Can I develop some filtering and data processing algorithms in the c code in the redpitaya? Is it fast enough because I intend to continuously process data during high speed acquisition.

When sampling at the full 2*125MSps, there are not many cpu cycles per sample, so I doubt you can do meaningful processing on the data stream. And you'll also need some processor time to communicate the results, linux needs some cpu, etc. I suggest you benchmark your filter code on the Red Pitaya and draw your conclusions from that.

2. Is it also possible to change the FPGA code fully using XIlinx?

If you mean "using Xilinx GUI instead of the tcl-scripts", you might find this thread interesting.

3. How do I communicate with RedPitaya using >net application? Can I communicate the control signals and results through the c program in the redpitaya and my .Net application? Could you please point the correct way?

You could for example implement a simple server in the RP application that accepts connections on some port and receives and processes control commands. On the .Net side open a socket to this server application and send commands as needed. Maybe also provide some feedback from the RP back to .Net. There's boilerplate code for client / server frameworks in most languages and OSs all over the web.

[mzeeshanarshad]

Thanks Nils for taking time to give this detailed reply. I just have one last query; Can I program the fpga itself to implement my filters in verilog by modifying the already provided data acquisition implementation on Zynq? Its all open-source right?

[Nils Roos]

Yes, you can add filters to the signal path or replace the filters that are already there. It's also possible to make the filter coefficients configurable by the processor at runtime. The open source codebase covers all functions except the non-free apps and can be modified and rebuild to cater for your needs.